9 Weird Ways to Save Money TODAY!

9 Weird Ways to Save Money

If you’re working long shifts or have the kids at home, you’re probably running out of ways to earn extra funds. Now it’s time to cut down on what you are spending. Paying off debt and living life to the fullest is all about bringing in more than you are sending out (and using all that extra to pay down your debts). Sometimes, though, saving money isn’t as easy as it sounds. If you have already tried some of the “normal” ways to save money, here are a few weird ones to kick you into gear!

9 Weird Ways to Save Money

As some of you may know already, my wife and I are on a journey to pay down our giant sum of debt (to the tune of almost $200,000). We just set an official big, scary goal of paying it off in only THREE years (you can see that HERE). For the record, my wife and I have a fairly low income compared to our debt – in fact, our debt is well over three times our combined income which means three years is a little bit unrealistic.

But a goal is a goal and we are going to do everything we can to reach it.

We have cut our expenses like crazy, worked hard to earn some extra money, but our big, scary goal means that we need to go even farther – and maybe even get a little WEIRD – as we search for ways to save money.

Here are our 9 favorite weird ways to save money (so far):

1. Stop Buying Bread & Pasta Altogether

One of the first things I hear when people say that they are looking to save money is that food is SO expensive. They follow that up, of course, with the need to use fillers (such as bread and pasta) at over half of their meals each week. The thing people don’t realize is how expensive these two items are.

I know what you are thinking. You can pop over to your local grocery store and pick up both for less than five bucks, but what if I told you that by making them at home you can pay for both of them for only $1.19. Would that change the way you feel about purchasing bread and pasta?

Over the course of ONE YEAR that would save you a grand total of $396.24!

Of our weird ways to save money, this is by far my favorite because it tastes SO good.

2. Stop Using Shampoo

Yes, you read that right and yes, it does seem a little crazy, but that’s the whole point, right? To get a little bit WEIRD with our ways to save money so that you can find NEW ways that you haven’t thought about yet. So, we have to include this one and it’s one of the most recent.

Toward the end of our No Spend Challenge (read about the challenge HERE), we ran out of shampoo in our home. I’ll admit, this caused a brief moment of panic because due to the rules of the challenge, we were not allowed to buy any shampoo to replace it.

We knew we still had to go out in public though for the remaining week of the challenge. How were we going to do that without shampoo? Wouldn’t our hair become unbearably greasy?

Nope!

We took the No Poo Challenge. We have been on it for a month so far and my hair feels better than it has ever felt. Want to try a natural way to clean your hair and a weird way to save money?

3. We Went an ENTIRE Month Without Spending

As long as we are on the topic of the No Spend Challenge, let’s add that to the list. We went the entire month of January without spending ANY money. (okay, we did spend money on gas to get to work, but that was it)!

Over the course of the month we saved a whopping grand total of $2075.62!

Would you stop spending for an entire month to save that? We certainly would.

5. We Started Using a Cash Budgeting System

Of our weird ways to save money, this one may seem a little silly. You may think to yourself: whether you use cash or credit, it’s still the same amount, right?

Well, yes, you are right…. Technically… But think about this: When you swipe a card, you don’t really notice the cash leaving. If your account is empty, you can continue swiping – though the fees become outrageous and it’s not really recommended.

However, there have been studies that have shown that when handing over cash, there is an instant reaction of physical pain for a split second. It legitimately pains you to hand over cash – that’s why it’s so much harder to justify buying a soda at the gas station when you have to break a twenty for it as opposed to swiping your card.

Not only that, but it also is a very visible way to see where your money is and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

6. We Starting Growing Our Food from SCRAPS

We know a lot of people who grow gardens in their backyards and we always thought that was nice, but it sure looks like a lot of work. Then we started doing the math.

Whenever we go to a grocery store, the things that we pay the most for our produce and meats. Well, we certainly do not have the land, funds, or knowledge to start raising cattle and chickens, but we are doing well enough to start our own garden, right?

So, we took apart a tomato, a few onions, some celery and planted them. Soon we had our own garden sprouting up inside our home – in our DINING ROOM! How crazy is that?

7. We Started Canning Food

Once our garden began sprouting we knew that we needed to find a way to preserve the food. Each week we found ourselves throwing out produce that we had not used up and the waste was killing us. It was time to find a change to fix the problem.

So, we learned how to can our foods and keep them for years! Now, I know what you are thinking: why is this on your list of weird ways to save money?

Well, let’s think about this. How many people do you know, under the age of 40, who still can foods? The truth is that most millennials know that canned foods are readily available for cheap at the grocery store so they don’t see a point in canning their own.

But it can save you TONS and cut down on your food waste tremendously.

8. We Make Our Own Cleaning Products

Fun fact: It’s not just shampoo that you can make on your own. You can also make your own household cleaning products! We clean our toilets, our counter tops, our fridge, our carpets, and even our laundry with our own cleaning products that we made for cheap!

Let me tell you something: baking soda and vinegar can go a long, long way.

Not only are these products cheaper, but they create a healthier environment at our home. We no longer are surrounded by dangerous chemicals for no reason – instead, our home is free and clear and that’s just how we like it.

9. We Cut the Cord on Cable and Subscriptions

Do you realize how much money you spend each month for entertainment? Even if you set yourself an entertainment budget, you’re still going way over what you think you are. That’s because you’re probably including newspaper subscriptions, cable, and magazine subscriptions into your monthly bills instead of your entertainment fund.

And the truth is: by doing that you are wasting thousands of dollars.

We found ways to cut the cord on cable and subscriptions without missing out. We still see all our favorite shows and are caught up on all the news, but we pay only a fraction of the cost. And you can, too!

9 Weird Ways to Save Money

There you have it! A list of 9 weird ways to save money that my wife and I already use. Don’t worry, there are plenty more to come, but this list will certainly get you started if you are looking to save a ton of money and live your life to the fullest!

What’s the weirdest thing you have done to save money?

Leave your response in the comments below!

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These are some great ideas! You really can clean just about anything with baking soda, vinegar, and sometimes dawn dish soap. We’re looking to change our cell phone plan soon, but it’s hard to choose what to do. Too many options!

Thank you, Christine! Yes – definitely need Dawn dish soap in my life! We use it all the time. Check out the republic wireless on my other post – cheap and works really well. Hope you have happy savings! Thanks for commenting 🙂

I loooved this post – such great inspiration! Thank you for sharing! P/S We just recently cut the cable cord, too, but we’re missing it terribly. I’m heading over to the other post you linked to to see how you managed it.

Thank you, NYG!!! I’m so glad that you loved the post and that it was helpful. I hope my other post on how we manage the lack of cable helps you – it can be tricky at first, but we have gone over a year without it and it’s been pretty great. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!

Thanks for sharing this. Some of these I would’ve never thought of. I dk if I can go without shampoo lol but I’m already budgeting and I might start canning my food and making homemade cleaners. Good ideas 🙂

lol! A lot of people think it’s weird we don’t use shampoo, but my hair feels better than it ever has. I guess to each their own! 🙂 I hope your canning of foods and homemade cleaner making goes well! 🙂 You can do this! Thank you for reading and commenting, Melanie

Isn’t that funny, Cole? I love how easy life can be when you don’t have to spend money. There’s so much more room for everything else when money isn’t in the way. I hope someday that money won’t even be a concern for us – when we are out of debt and can live even more simply, but until then, we’ll enjoy our days of saving and frugal living. 🙂 Thank you for commenting, Cole!

I LOVE canning!! My mom taught me last year and now I’m nearly addicted to it, it is so fun and as long as you have a good source for your fruits and veggies, SO much cheaper! And you saved a ton of money during January, that’s awesome!

That’s how we are, too, Justine! We fell in love with canning after our parents taught us! It’s so fun and it makes such GREAT food compared to what you buy at the grocery store. Thanks for the comment! 🙂

That’s what we are learning too! We are falling in love with these saving money tips because our lives are happier, better, more full. I’m glad you are also finding that in your life, Julia. Thank you for reading and commenting!

It DOES make life easier! Plus… I always end up buying more than what I go for when I go to the store. So if I don’t have to make a trip out for cleaning supplies, I save TONS because I won’t end up spending more on things I don’t need. Thank you for your comment, Amanda!

You should definitely try growing your own food – it’s so fun and you feel so accomplished when it’s done! 🙂 WOOHOO! For saving money on your cell phone! That’s fantastic! Thank you for your comment, Leslie

I have my small garden (50mp2), and some containers on the balcony. I have a low phone package (7Euro). I use vinegar to clean. I can (ok, a little, 20 jars per year). I go once per week to shop so one day per week of spending (several times once for 2 weeks but… it is too much effort for me), no tv, cash. All these are working for me.

Something that I recommend : renegotiate your bills – all the bills can be cut. In plus to do ourselves the services and products: cook, clean, sew, cut the hair, paint the house, massage etc. -all these costs a lot. In plus, all these can be converted in money in the moment of loosing the job: because we already are doing weekly. Secondary skill is a gift of the God – use it.

It sounds like you’re already doing fantastic at saving money – hooray! 🙂 You’re right, renegotiating bills and taking on services that you can do yourself makes a HUGE difference. I definitely agree. Thanks for commenting!